Get involved with our canal festival in Kings Norton Playing Fields in 2015

Planning is under way to deliver a canal festival in 2015

We are really excited about being part of a joint working group to deliver a canal festival during the weekend of Friday 10-12 July 2015 for the Kings Norton Village Festival in 2015.

This will celebrate 200 years of the completion of the Birmingham to Worcester canal, which begins at Gas Street Basin and flows into the River Severn providing a trading route via Bristol to the markets in the south of England and overseas.  

We hope the boating fraternity will pay us a visit and book a mooring through our harbour masters (info out soon!) and our community groups, schools, local businesses and friends will get put on events and take part in what looks like a fun weekend.

From fair rides, to environment groups, bars, music, dancing, art and crafts... and on the Sunday afternoon a dry boat race.  

Nice Face, (No) Shame about the Boat Race!

You create a boat from whatever materials shape size or design you desire you, inject humour and good spirit and then its all aboard for dry race.  Here are a few images of dry boat races in Australia where the tradition which is sweeping the national like a tidal way.   This could be really great fun and we want all groups to create a boat and join us for the Kings Norton dash.   You can have as large crew or sail around the park single handed, it is up to you, me hearties!  

Inside the playing fields a stage stage bar and marquees will be erected with the support of the canal society.  There will be a varitey of interesting and fun stalls with activities in the playing fields, a farmers market, crafts and events on the Saturday morning on the Green and throughout things happening along the canal side. 

Please support in whatever way you can to make this an event to remember in the nicest possible way. 

Drop us an email if you want to find out more and come along.

Email    info.foknp@gmail.com

Follow  @kingsnortonpark

Follow @KNVF2015

A Great Achievement - replacing our lost tree avenue

Naturally Seated and Ready to Plant

Children from Kings Norton Primary School, pictured below, are naturally seated and ready to plant our new six standard giant redwoods.  You may recall we recently lost our original fir tree avenue.   We successfully managed to source funding from Birmingham Trees for Life for four replacement standard tress and Birmingham City trees department kindly funded two additional trees.

These six trees create one side of our avenue, which will run upwards along Colle Lane, the original historic walk up through fields which now form our park.  The lane once ran from the River Rea (known as the Cole in Angelo Saxon times) from a crossing from the former Kings Norton manorial mill, now the BP garage, and led to the north of historic St Nicolas Church.   Along the remaining part of the lane was planted a line of fir trees designed as a feature to enhance the experience of walking up and viewing the church.   The planting of the replacement new trees is a proud and historic moment for our park.

A very big thank you to everyone who took part in the vision, planning and planting on what was a very cold December day in 2014.

Kings Norton Primary School Children and Friends of KNPark  naturally seated receiving a health and safety talk

So tell me how old was this tree?

Fascinated children from Kings Norton Primary and Junior School being shown by a trees for life representative how to determine how old a tree is - sadly the best estimate is once the tree is felled by counting the rings inside the trunk.   Did you know these fir trees were part of the Kings Norton's original planting scheme.  Kings Norton Park dates back to 1924 and was a gift from the then embryonic Birmingham Civic Society and were possibly paid for our of monies donated by George and Elizabeth Cadbury who donated approximately £850 to landscape the park in the then popular more formal and ornate style.

The rings on this fir tree show it is approximately 90 years of age on felling - a sad loss but glorious in its day

Together we can achieve big things!

Children share in the filling in of soil around the new standard redwoods holes had been prepared by Birmingham City Council tree officers and rangers.    The work was strenuous but very rewarding for the children the soil is Merica Mud which is natural clay weighted with the rain of the last 3 previous days.   The timing appropriately added a sense of magic and magnitude as the children felt they were planting Christmas fir trees.   Hopefully, these trees will prosper into glorious redwood avenue and feature in the Park memories of local children as well as their children's children.

Heavy Mercian Mud (Clay) and top soil loaded with rainwater made the work strenuously rewarding

Mom's give a helping foot and children admire the roots and worms!

Protecting against adverse conditions

Secret wellie weapons ensure the soil is compact enough to hold the trees upright.  The trees have now been supported by stakes and protected by mess.   We hope that you help to protect our trees.  If you do see any adverse behaviour or damage due to weather conditions please do notify the appropriate authority.   Thank you!

Secret Wellie Weapons firm in the new trees

Special thank you's

A special thank you to James Gibbs Arboretum Officer Birmingham City Council,  Birmingham Trees for Life, our Lickey Hub Rangers,  Kings Norton Primary School and Friends of Kings of Norton Park .   Together we can make special things happen. 

Hopefully in 2015 a further 6 trees will be planted to complete this avenue and will be given the knowledge and skills to look after these trees.  We are soon to visit historic Brandwood Cemetery which has examples of redwoods to allow us to experience the atmosphere our avenue will create once it is fully established.


More pictures from Birmingham Trees for Life on the web at

https://picasaweb.google.com/102189186963151852649/KingsNortonParkDecember112014#

https://www.facebook.com/birminghamtreesforlife

http://www.btfl.org.uk/blog

Together we can achieve big things!

If you wish to become involved our activities in any shape or form, please do not hesitate to contact us

Email    info.foknp@gmail.com

Follow @kingsnortonpark

 

LOST TREES TO BE REPLACED

 TREES FELLED BUT A GIANT AVENUE WILL REPLACE THEM!

As we advised sometime ago, unfortunately our historic avenue of Scots Pine Trees has failed due to old age.  We are extremely saddened by this but have found a wonderful solution.  A new avenue of redwoods will take their place!

These trees were part of the original planting scheme of some 90 years ago and the extreme weather conditions of recent years’ has not helped them.  The Council surveyed all the trees in our park and found some of them in need of  felling and others, less dramatically,  in need of  the removal of dead wood.   Many are now looking a lot healthier giving them a chance to prosper in the future. 

Our  Friends group successfully applied to Birmingham Trees for Life to help replace the dead Scots Pine trees and they agreed to fund six standard trees.  Birmingham City Council tree officers (especially James, thank you!) kindly sourced funding for an additional six trees to complete a spectacular twelve tree avenue of redwoods (Sequoia Giganteum)  which will lead up to the aspect of the historic St Nicholas Church .   Many thanks to everyone involved in achieving this solution.   

The old Scots Pine trees have now been  felled and some of their trunks left on site providing us with an opportunity to organise funding for bench carvings.   The trunks will be moved to their new spots sometime after Christmas, however the actual carvings may take a little longer.  Please email your ideas for carvings, access to funding and contacts details of artists to us.  

The first six SG’s will be planted on  Thursday 11  December 2014  by  Kings Norton J&I, Birmingham City Council and some of the Friends of Kings Norton Park.  A further six trees will be planted during 2015.

   

Once these are planted we appeal to you to help us to care for and protect this new avenue of  trees.  Please report any adverse conditions you may find the trees in or any poor treatment of them appropriately. 

To comment or find out more about being involved in our group please contact us at

Email  info.foknp@gmail.com  or  Tweet @kingsnortonpark 

      

December 2014